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So.
Pissing off a group of powerful villains was definitely not what Jade had planned today.
But it was fine. Things had been... troublesome, recently, to say the least... She worked as a hero most days and to say that job was easy was quite the understatement. That, and her declining mental health had been dragging her down, forcing her to slow down and therefore impacting her work as well.
So, she made an executive decision.
Yeah, that's right. An executive decision! Definitely not a dumb one.
Suck it up and get it over with like you always do. Stop being such a pussy.
She let the gunshots of the ensuing fight fade into the background...
...and jumped off the nearest rooftop. The drop would be fatal. Jade was sure of it.
Goodbye number 6, hello number 7.
There were a few comforting moments of peace that the redhead relished in as she fell. It was almost comforting, minus that weird feeling in her stomach-
Her peaceful descent was interrupted by something crashing— or, more accurately— grabbing her mid-air.
She opened her blue eyes (that she had apparently shut) in the few moments of serenity just before, only to see the scene of the city below her. She wriggled uncomfortably for a moment, trying to get loose from the hold this person had on her arms. The hero could even hear wing flaps over the air that blasted against her face. Jade shivered, not appreciating the cold one bit.
She shut her eyes after a few moments like this, no longer observing the scene below. Her eyes were getting dry, and the cold air being whipped against her face was uncomfortable enough as it was. They stayed that way for maybe a minute longer before Jade could feel them slow down, and her feet hit the ground.
"What the hell?" Jade muttered angrily, rubbing her eyes and then opening them, quickly readjusting to her surroundings. She was on another roof, higher up, and far away from the source of the gunshots. That, and there was a stranger up there with her. With wings.
He was blonde. Had a yellow visor on, and big blaring red wings attached to his back. Jade knew him, she was sure of it. He was definitely a hero, but Jade didn't keep up much with the rankings. Occasionally she'd check to see where she herself landed on them, but that was all. This guy must be pretty popular, though, for her to somewhat recognize him.
"Do you mind?" She asked rhetorically, not waiting for an answer as she stomped her way toward the edge of this building. The redhead was almost off it, too, before she felt something grab her by the hood.
"Woah there, kid, chill out a sec!" The stranger called out. Now she was even more confused. He sounded too far away to be directly behind her, so what was holding her up? She couldn't maneuver well enough to see what was behind her.
"Let me go and maybe I will!" She shot back at him angrily, feeling whatever was holding her slowly turning her around to face the man.
Jade could feel his fierce yellow eyes examining her, picking her apart.
Tough luck, bird boy.
Figure me out. This is a cry for help. I need help. Please understand.
As the two voices in her mind argued, she heard him speak again, interrupting the inducing chaos in her brain. "Promise not to try and take another nosedive?" He asked.
She plastered a bright smile on and nodded in the air, "Promise!"
That's good. Keep lying. Defend yourself.
"Yeah, right.." He trailed off in his last word. A couple of the feathers detached from his wings and went over to help out whatever was holding her up. "I'll be back. Don't move."
As he spoke, the feathers moved her over to a wall and kept her pressed against it but still off the ground.
As if I have a choice, dumbass!
The first thing (which was apparently just another feather) twisted away and released its hold on her hood, then inserting itself partially up her sleeves in order to keep one of her arms up. Another three feathers did the same on each of her limbs. She huffed but didn't struggle just yet.
Things had been hard lately. Hard enough to end things, at least, but making such a decision wasn't difficult for Jade— not like it was for other people.
Still, though. The panic attacks, nightmares, and just general all-day feeling-like-shit-iness weren't going to stop if she killed herself. It'd keep going, and she knew it. Glancing over to the side of the building she had nearly jumped off of, she groaned, bothered by her own stupid behavior.
I'm an idiot. That would've just given me another memory to add to the trauma train. Bad Jade! She thought, bonking herself on the head in her mind. Now, to get out of the strange hold the hero's feathers had on her.
Wanting to participate in the fight the winged hero was in, she called out to the two creatures that embodied her quirk, Help me get free. The puppet-like creatures appeared in front of her, and they did as she asked as soon as they hit the ground.
The sound of knives being unsheathed was heard as their claws emerged and they climbed up the side of the building Jade was pinned to. They each grabbed two feathers and gently dropped her down, but her freedom was short-lived as the feathers quickly flew back around and took hold of her again. She huffed.
So that's how it's gonna be, huh? Fine. If you wanna play, I'll play.
Long strings emerged from the knuckles on each of her hands and then attached to her puppets.
Let's move.
The two of them lept off of the huge building, grabbing onto the ledge of the rooftop in front of them. The strings still had slack, though, so they kept moving forward. Eventually, they were dragging Jade with them. At some point, things began to speed up, and the feathers lost their hold on her sleeves.
She led herself in the direction of the setting sun, where she could still faintly hear the gunshots. A few minutes of swinging through the city later, she could see the battle going on. Two of the villains were still up, but the rest appeared to be knocked out and scattered across the building. She could see more of the loose feathers scattered in the air, all pointing towards the two, but not moving more than that. The hero from before, though, had taken cover behind a long, but slim metal container.
She had her puppets stealthily jump down, hanging on to the edge of the building. They pulled her down with them once they were secure. Her feet hit the side of the building first and she noticed several more feathers around her. The winged hero glanced toward her and raised a brow, cocking his head to the side a little as if to say, 'Why are you here?'
She didn't acknowledge him other than that single glance, though. She surveyed her surroundings, hoping to end this battle relatively quickly. Jade was behind the two villains, they hadn't noticed her. Her fellow hero was in front of them behind his box.
"It's not very often I get caught up in prolonged fights!" She heard him say, and the villains paused for a moment, then began approaching the box. "You guys must know your stuff."
Well, at least he was smart enough to distract them for her. She detached her puppets from their strings and they stalked up behind one of the thugs and slashed at his legs. It wasn't too deep, but it was enough for the man to be concerned. "Shit!" He cursed and turned around. The puppet that had slashed him sheathed its claws, and lept right at his face. It grabbed on tightly to his head and did not let go. While the first villain was trying to pry the puppet off his face, the second puppet snatched his gun and tossed it back over to Jade.
The second villain backed up, looking around cluelessly. "What just happened?!" He yelped, fear evident across his features. This time, Jade appeared behind him and clocked him right in the face with the butt of the gun. He fell down onto the concrete with a soft clunk.
Meanwhile, the first thug was still screaming. Jade walked over, had her puppet get off of his face, and punched him just as she did the second man while he sputtered.
"Ouch." She grumbled, almost pitying the two.
You can go now. Thanks. She told her companions, and they disappeared. Jade walked back around to the other side of the storage box, mildly concerned. Surely the winged hero would've gotten up by now if he was alright. "Hey, you all good back here?" She asked the man as she turned the corner.
The redhead paused for a moment, eyes settling on the blood pooling around the man's leg. Fortunately, her shock passed quickly and she walked over to him, kneeling down beside him. The blood was pooling around his right calf.
Fuck. I should've been faster.
The man's wings appeared smaller than before, and several feathers were scattered, but now unmoving across the building. "Hey!" She lightly shook the man's shoulder and gently lifted his right pant leg up to find the spot the bullet had penetrated. "Hey, can you hear me?" She asked him urgently.
"Mmhm." The man quietly grumbled. Jade could see him lifting his eyelids up a little to observe her.
"Okay. Okay, good. I'm gonna call 119, buddy. They're gonna getcha patched up, you'll be fine." She spoke to him and pulled her phone out, now having located the place the bullet had penetrated his flesh. The bullet had gone fully through his calf. Jade cursed under her breath and unsheathed one of her claws (similar to the ones her puppets had), slicing part of her left sleeve off. She tied the cloth around the wounded part of his leg and whipped her phone out with her blood-stained fingers.
*
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It took a while for the paramedics to show up, but once they did they all seemed to know who the man was. He had managed to stay conscious the whole time Jade was with him, keeping his eyes open. He must have been pretty high up on the hero billboard chart for everyone to have recognized him. So her guess was right, after all. The police showed up too to collect the villains that had attacked Jade.
Her latest mission involved taking down an operation that these villain's buddies were involved with, and they weren't exactly pleased that their friends had ended up in jail. It unnerved her to know that they had gone out of their way to track her down when she wasn't even patrolling. If she was in her hero suit, maybe things would've been a bit different. She could've been faster or of more use.
"The Marionettist." Jade had replied when the police asked for their hero name. She didn't often work in this part of the city, so she wasn't surprised they hadn't recognized her. Especially without her hero costume.
She was glad she wasn't injured, at least. A few scrapes and bruises for sure, but it was nothing that she herself couldn't handle. Before things had wrapped up at the scene, she had managed to get the injured man's hero name- Hawks. Jade was certain he was at least in the top 10 on the hero billboard chart now. She was sure she had heard that name a couple times before.
She stuffed her phone back in her pants back pocket, cringing at the feel of the dried blood on her hands. Not to mention on her clothes and phone, too. She couldn't wait to get herself in clean garments.
It took a while for her to find where she had parked, but once she did it didn't take her too much time to drive home. By the time she was there, Jade had forgotten why she had even left the house anyways. She washed her hands thoroughly as soon as she got to the kitchen sink, shuddering a little. She grabbed a wet paper towel and gently scrubbed any blood off her phone's screen and case, too. As she did so, though, she noticed something pricking her skin below her sleeve.
She reached up her sleeve and grabbed the perpetrator, pulling the small object out of her shirt where it had gotten stuck.
Oh.
It was one of the winged hero's feathers. One of the smaller ones that probably had resided closer to the top of his wings.
She examined it carefully, the texture felt odd against her fingers. It was bright red, and it stood out. Even on its own. She placed the small feather back on the counter, deciding not to throw it away. At least, not yet.
*
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About an hour or so later, Jade plopped herself down on the couch. She had grabbed the small feather on her way to the living room, and she was in new clothes. She had showered, too. Still, though, the redhead found herself shuddering.
What if he had died? They'd think it's your fault. Then you'd get thrown in prison. Or restrained until you die. Or-
Why didn't you notice he was injured in the first place? You're meant to be observant, you dumb fuck.
You're only a hero because it's a means to an end. If he had died there, it would've been your fault. Someone else's blood on your hands. A hero's blood on your hands. He saves lives, and you're only doing this to serve your own needs.
Jade stood up abruptly, trying to ground herself back in reality. She absent-mindedly twiddled the feather in between her index finger and thumb. Her thoughts all seemed to be screaming at her, caging her in a prison of guilt and self-hate. She grabbed her phone, opting to attempt to distract herself.
After a moment of pondering (and continuing to mess with the feather), she decided to google the hero that had decided to save her.
She typed 'hero Hawks' into the search engine and read the titles of the articles that followed.
'Number Three Hero Hawks strikes again!'
'No One Can Keep Up With #3 Hero Hawks!'
'Hawks: The Speediest Hero Around?!'
Jade blinked at the clickbait titles before typing in something new in the search bar- 'about hero Hawks'. A lot of the same articles popped up, but eventually, she decided on one and skimmed through it. She spent about twenty minutes scrolling through various articles and websites before calling it quits. At some point, the same information kept repeating itself.
Hawks had made his way into the top 10 groups of heroes before he had turned twenty, making him the youngest hero to soar (no pun intended) through the ranks that fast. He started his own agency at 18, and Jade had even found a few details on how exactly his quirk worked.
If he's so damn fast he wouldn't have gotten shot. What a fake.
It's not exactly easy to dodge a bullet, you know.
Jade abruptly sat back down on her couch after a few minutes of pacing in her living room.
Doesn't matter. You won't be seeing him again anytime soon. The redhead concluded, trying to shut off the ensuing argument in her mind. Her stomach grumbled, and it occurred to her why she had even left her apartment in the first place.
She forgot to pick up groceries. The villains had attacked just before she entered the store, and by now Jade had absolutely zero interest (or motivation) in leaving her apartment.
"Fuck."
Guess I'll just starve.
*
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Hey! I'm super excited to start this story off, hope you guys enjoyed the first chapter! This is actually my first fic, so please feel free to offer constructive criticism :). Just please be nice about it, haha. And huge thanks to @messhi (I'm not sure how to actually tag them, but that's their user), they were super helpful with this chapter and are just generally a lovely person <3!
I'm posting this fic on Wattpad as well! My user is Jadethaniel if you'd prefer to read it there.
Thanks for reading!